Prolonged aridification of the RIO grande project area and heavy regional reliance on groundwater pumping has caused a reduction in RIO grande project water supply, resulting in a decrease in RIO…

Prolonged aridification of the RIO grande project area and heavy regional reliance on groundwater pumping has caused a reduction in RIO grande project water supply, resulting in a decrease in RIO grande project efficiency. During increasingly unpredictable monsoon seasons, there are significant storm events that result in flooding to farmland causing property damage, crop loss, and channel sedimentation. The areas of flooding are often in underserved, lower income communities with inadequate flood control capacity. Developing stormwater storage at existing sediment dams and building off-channel storage has the potential to slow down baseflow during monsoon events, capture stormwater to recharge the aquifer, and improve and create riparian habitat. A fallowing program would reduce reliance of surface and groundwater, therefore building RIO grande project water supply resilience and supporting RIO grande compact deliveries. The recipient will solicit projects to be designed and implemented for the program and enter into contracts with responsible parties in the performance of work to meet program objectives. Program objectives include planning and implementation of stormwater capture projects at project sediment dams planning and implementation of off-channel storage projects planning and implementation of fallowing projects